Revealing the Basic Goods Mafia; Food Security of 85 Million People in the Hands of Two Individuals

In a public session of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, while discussing the report of the Agricultural Commission and addressing infrastructural and policy issues, the monopoly in the import of food inputs and the fact that the food security of 85 million people is in the hands of two individuals was revealed. The newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported that if it was thought that the number of 'sultans' would not increase and would be limited to coins, dollars, and a few other sultans, now our eyes have been opened to the food sultans of the country. The head of the Agricultural Commission of the Parliament mentioned in this session that the import of animal feed is monopolized by two individuals, naming them, and called for the intervention of supervisory bodies in this matter. Mohammad Javad Askari emphasized that out of the 10 million tons of corn needed by the country, about 8 million tons are imported. According to him, out of the 5 million tons of soybeans required, only 300,000 tons are produced domestically, and 50% of the barley needed is also imported. The existence of a feed mafia has also been a source of controversy in previous governments, as regardless of the political leanings of different administrations, the monopoly on the import of animal feed has always been in the hands of this network. The state television reported in September 2021 on the performance of the animal feed and basic goods mafia, citing one of the managers of the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture, who emphasized that during the thirty years he worked in the Ministry of Jihad, the currency for many basic goods and even some human medicines was cut off, but the currency for feed was never stopped. This report mentioned that one importing company even controls the country's ports and disrupts the unloading of shipments from other individuals, effectively creating conditions for corruption and their bankruptcy. With the escalation of problems in securing inputs in the last two years, a manager of a poultry production group also stated in May 2022 that 'the mafia has taken control of the feed market,' and the Ministry of Jihad Agriculture has no feed to provide to the poultry farmers, but they sell it at several times the price in the free market. The monopoly in this sector comes at a time when, over the past year, the shortage of inputs has become the main challenge for production, and many industry stakeholders believe that resolving the issues of securing animal feed, especially soybean meal and loading to production units, will adjust the prices of protein products in the market.